Deputy CEO of The Diana Award recognised in The King’s New Year Honours 2025
A lifelong commitment to tackling bullying from his own experience when younger has led to recognition for The Diana Award’s Deputy CEO Alex Holmes (36yrs) in The King’s New Year Honours 2025. Alex has been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours List for services to Young People.
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Alex, who grew up in Milton Keynes and lives in Hertfordshire, is the founder of the peer-to-peer Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Programme at The Diana Award, a network of trained young people dedicated to preventing all types of bullying particularly in schools. This is a programme Alex founded at 16yrs, after experiencing racist and homophobic bullying and witnessing the impact this can have on young minds and their mental health. Alex also received The Diana Award in 2004 at 16yrs for his work tackling bullying.
Dr Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO, The Diana Award says:
“Alex’s pioneering leadership and passionate commitment to young people has been immense. He is an inspiration to so many young people at The Diana Award who have been impacted by his work. This highly deserved award is especially poignant as it also comes at the end of The Diana Award’s 25th anniversary year.”
Alex is a Queen’s Young Leader, Forbes 30 Under 30, a recipient of The Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award and sat on The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Advisory Board, helping spearhead their Sustainable Development Goals ‘Goalkeeper programme. Alex was named on the Independent on Sunday's Happy List as one of the ‘100 people who make Britain a happier place to live’ and has a keen interest on barriers to children’s happiness and wellbeing.
On receiving his OBE, Alex Holmes said
“It’s a huge honour to receive this OBE for services to young people. This is for young people who experienced bullying, like I did at a young age, but don’t realise their strengths in disguise. I’m proud of the young people I’ve supported over many years. I know my mother, who sadly died last year, would be incredibly proud too.”
ENDS_
Further info:
Emma Pelling: 07958 558172, emma@pellingpr.co.uk
As millions of young people head back to school this September, new research, commissioned by leading youth charity The Diana Award and the UK’s largest online mental health support service Kooth, has revealed while more than half (56%) of the UK’s young people have experienced bullying, many are ‘suffering in silence’ with one in three (39%) saying they have avoided telling their parents or carers because they thought they wouldn’t understand.
Today, The Diana Award launched ‘Pledge to Invest’ an initiative which puts the spotlight on the future of youth leadership and how forward-thinking businesses can support.
Young people from across the UK gathered at the Department for Education to share their experiences of bullying directly with Minister Morgan. Their voices are helping shape how schools respond and support pupils in the future.
